Georgian PM, Azerbaijani President hail “centuries-old” ties in Baku meeting

Georgian PM welcomes visiting Hungarian counterpart

According to the information disseminated by the government administration, the head of the Georgian government Irakli Kobakhidze hosted the Hungarian colleague. The national anthems of the two countries were performed. The Prime Ministers of Georgia and Hungary introduced the members of the delegation to each other.As part of the official visit, a face-to-face meeting between Irakli Kobakhidze and Viktor Orban will be held in an extended format, after which the Prime Ministers will make joint statements to the media.On Monday, October 28, the highest representative of the European Commission, Joseph Borrell, said that Hungarian Prime Minister Orban, who is expected to come to Georgia to show support for the government, does not represent the European Union. “He is traveling to Georgia... presumably to show his support for the Georgian government. Whatever Mr. Orban may say during his visit, he does not represent the European Union," Borrell said.The Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, is the first and only European leader who congratulated "Georgian Dream" on the election victory."I congratulate Prime Minister Kobakhidze and "Georgian Dream" on their victory in the parliamentary elections. People in Georgia know what is best for their country and today their voice was heard!", Viktor Orban wrote on Platform X on October 26, after announcing the results of the exit poll conducted by "Imedi" TV.Viktor Orbani is now a great friend of "Georgian Dream", as well as the Russian President - Putin. The Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban is considered a pro-Russian politician. He also arrived in Moscow in July 2024.On Monday, October 28, a rally, announced by the President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, was held in Rustaveli, which was related to the "falsified" October 26 parliamentary elections by the ruling party.Georgian citizens expressed dissatisfaction with Orban's arrival in Georgia even when Levan Tsutskiridze, one of the leaders of "Strong Georgia", told the rally participants gathered on Rustaveli, that on October 28 that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was visiting Georgia.

ISFED NGO: Georgia’s Election Commission results “valid”, but vote int...

In its statement, the NGO highlighted the alignment did not endorse the validity of the election process, pointing to “severe violations observed throughout the pre-election period and on election day itself”, which it claimed had “hindered the expression of voters' free will”.The ISFED also outlined a “series of issues” that it claimed had “marred the electoral environment”, including “reports of voter intimidation, confiscation of identification cards, improper collection and processing of personal data, and extensive voter bribery”.Referring to the election day, the organisation cited incidents of “ballot stuffing, multiple voting, large-scale voter bribery, expulsion of observers from polling stations, and organised efforts to control voters' will by collecting personal data and monitoring preferences outside polling stations”.The ISFED argued the “combined violations” could have skewed the election outcome, casting doubt on whether the results accurately reflected the Georgian electorate's intent.Pointing to alleged violations, the election watchdog said it had chosen not to release the detailed data from its PVT, viewing the election environment as “fundamentally flawed”.The Georgian Dream authorities, whose party has secured more than 53 percent of the vote in the elections, has described the NGO as being “aligned with foreign interests”, pointing to its inaccurate PVT results in the 2020 general elections, which they claim had been used by the “radical wing of the domestic opposition” to “artificially spark” post-election unrest. 

Security Sector Reform is a long-term political process - EU Ambassado...

“It is my pleasure to welcome you to this EU-funded event to discuss fundamental topics for any democratic society: national security and societal resilience.Security Sector Reform is a long-term political process. It goes to the heart of power relations in any country. In order to succeed, security sector reform needs to be nationally driven and based on political commitment and leadership, inter-institutional cooperation and broad stakeholder participation.Democratic oversight is equally important for a strong and resilient national security system. Accountability, transparency and openness must be applied and legal guarantees put in place to prevent arbitrary decision-making and possible abuse of the security structures.This is why a strong oversight mechanism of the Georgia’s security system has been included also as one of the nine steps attached to Georgia’s EU candidate status. Addressing and improving the parliamentary oversight of security services would be necessary for Georgia to continue on its EU accession path. [step 5 - Further improve the implementation of parliamentary oversight notably of the security services…]Despite some reforms undertaken in this regard in the past, the reports that will be presented today unfortunately reveal serious concerns. Research findings show that the parliamentary and judicial oversight of security services in Georgia are still too weak and inefficient.The hosts of today’s gathering are three civil society organisations – the Social Justice Center, CRRC Georgia and Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association. These organisations have been implementing this EU-funded security sector oversight project for the last three years.Three years marked by increasingly hostile environment for civil society oversight. Today, in this crucial moment for the future of Georgia, civil society organisations have become direct targets of disinformation and propaganda campaigns and their space has been curtailed by a combination of legal and non-legal measures. In this environment, meaningful oversight has become even harder.This is incompatible with Georgia’s aspiration to join the European Union. As HRVP Borrell said last week, these are signals of a shift towards authoritarianism, which takes Georgia away from the EU path.As the EU ambassador, my sincere hope is that the future developments will result in re-establishing of the favourable environment for meaningful reforms, including the security sector reform and building of the National Security System aligned with the European standards.The standards are respect of human rights, access to credible information and free and independent media, and undisturbed functioning of effective democratic control and oversight”, -  EU Ambassador said

Over 200,000 adult citizens of Georgia do not own a passport, an elect...

The Service Development Agency of the Ministry of Justice informed about this to the chairperson of the "National Movement" faction, Tina Bokuchava, in response to a parliamentary question.In addition, according to the document, as of September 30, a total of 882,052 citizens, both adults and minors, do not have identity documents in Georgia.According to the information provided to the MP by the agency, as of September 30, a total of 458,234 citizens have the passport of an active citizen of Georgia. Among them, 293,863 adults and 164,371 minors.As for the number of citizens holding electronic ID cards, according to official data, a total of 3,345,274 citizens have the document. Among them, 3,203,702 adults and 141,572 minor citizens.In addition, according to the document, 395 citizens have non-electronic identity certificates in the country.

Georgian PM unveils plan for “balanced” regional development, environm...

Kobakhidze said over GEL 2 billion ($730mln) would be allocated for the development of regions through the Municipal Development Fund while a special programme focused on infrastructure development in settlements across the occupation line separating the Russian-occupied regions from the rest of the country would receive an annual allocation of GEL 20 million ($7.29mln).“Under the rural support programme, a minimum of GEL 400 million ($145.73mln) will be allocated over the next four years. At least GEL 155 million ($56.47mln) will be allocated under the Mountain Fund [...] It is crucial to ensure that the benefits are evenly distributed across the country, reaching different regions. Investments will continue to be made in this regard”, Kobakhidze said.In environmental initiatives, the Government aims to implement modern early warning systems over the next four years and increase the area of protected areas in the country by an additional 100,000 hectares, the Prime Minister said.“Also, 15,000 hectares of forest will be restored and planted. In the last four years, we have increased the pace of reforestation by about five times compared to the previous government. It is not even worth comparing; the amount of forests restored and planted by them was so insignificant in our country”, he said.Kobakhidze also highlighted reduction in air pollution in major cities such as the capital city of Tbilisi and Rustavi, saying air pollution had decreased by 25 percent and 35 percent respectively over the past few years.The Prime Minister said GEL 200 million ($72.87mln) would be allocated for the municipal transport programme over the next four years.“This funding will be used to improve the transport infrastructure and services in municipalities and regions [...] The combined budget for all 68 municipalities totalled around GEL 1.3 billion ($470mln) in 2012, mainly allocated for administrative expenses. However, the budget for 2024 in the regions alone has already reached GEL 3.34 billion ($1.22bln), with a projected figure of GEL 4.59 billion ($1.67bln) for 2028”, he said.“As for Tbilisi, the budget of the capital city was only GEL 657 million ($239.36mln) in 2012. The budget has already exceeded GEL 2 billion ($730mln) in 2024, and the forecast for 2028 is GEL 2.25 billion ($820mln). This amount does not include projects financed from the central budget. Tbilisi City Hall has significant plans for expanding the metropolitan network, rehabilitating avenues, and more. Additional resources beyond the GEL 2.25 billion will be allocated from the central budget for these projects”, Kobakhidze added.The Prime Minister also said the budget of the western city of Kutaisi had been GEL 62 million ($22.59mln) in 2012, before increasing to GEL 195 million ($71.04mln) the following year. Government projections by 2028 put it at GEL 225 million ($81.97mln), he added.Budget for the central-eastern city of Rustavi had been GEL 49 million ($17.85mln) in 2012, he said, adding the figure was expected to rise to GEL 180 million ($65.58mln) by 2025 and reach GEL 210 million ($76.51mln) by 2028. The Black Sea port city of Poti had a budget of GEL 31 million ($11.29mln) in 2012, the PM noted, before adding the number was anticipated to surpass GEL 100 million ($36.43mln) next year and reach about GEL115 million ($41.90mln) by 2028.In public services, the Government head contrasted the number of 12 Public Service Halls across the country with the opening of 109 more venues since the year, with plans to open 12 more between 2024-2025 to complete the project of their expansion.“This will ensure that [Public Service Halls] are available throughout the country, and all municipalities have the necessary infrastructure. Additionally, the Mobile [Public Service Hall] project has been implemented to provide relevant services to even remote villages. The number of services offered in the [venues] has also doubled, which is crucial for our citizens”, Kobakhidze said.He also emphasised the importance of the initiative of systematic registration of land, calling it a “crucial” project and thanking the Ministry of Justice and Minister Rati Bregadze for initiating and implementing it.“Over the recent years, one and a half billion plots of land have been surveyed under this project, and one billion plots have already been registered. Additional funding will be allocated in the coming years to register 500,000 plots to their respective owners”, Kobakhidze said.Addressing the tourism sector, the Prime Minister said the country would attract eight million visitors this year and increase the number to 11 million by 2028.“Tourism is an important sector for our country’s economy, and we take pride in being known for our hospitality. The development of tourism not only has an economic impact, but also a cultural significance for us. We can be proud of the significant growth we have achieved in this area”, Kobakhidze said.“We had 4.7 million visitors in the country in 2012. This figure is expected to reach almost eight million by 2024. The number of visitors is projected to increase to 11 million by 2028. This shows a very positive growth trend in the number of visitors”, he added.He noted income from tourism was projected to increase from $1.4 billion in 2012 to $6.4 billion by 2028, calling it an “impressive” result.“Of course, these incomes will ultimately affect incomes and social status of our population”, Kobakhidze added.The Prime Minister further presented “impressive data” regarding accommodation facilities, including hotels and guest houses.“There were 777 hotels in our country with 23,000 places in 2012. The number of hotels is projected to increase to 2,363 with 108,000 places by 2024. This represents a 4.5-fold increase in the number of places in the hotel sector. The number of hotels is expected to reach 2,680 with 142,700 places by 2028, which is nearly six times the number in 2012”, he said.Kobakhidze revealed plans to support the growth of the industry through private investments of about GEL 1 billion ($360mln) in the hotel sector, as well as allocating over GEL 1 billion for the development of tourist infrastructure, including urban renewal projects.